European Union News

The Official Journal of the European Union has published, on 29th January 2008, a Directive concerning integrated pollution prevention and control. The purpose of this new Directive is to achieve integrated prevention and control of pollution arising from activities such as Installations or parts of installations used for research, development and testing of new products and processes. For example.

The commission of the European communities published on the 23rd January 2008 the COM(2008) 16 final related to a proposal for a directive of the european parliament and of the council amending the Directive 2003/87/EC in order to improve and extend the greenhouse gas emission allowance trading system of the Community. On 1 January 2005, the European Emission Trading System (EU ETS) started operation. It represents the spearhead (Emissions Trading Scheme) of EU climate policy due to its ability to achieve absolute emission reductions in an economically efficient manner.

On 29th Janurary 2008 the European Commission published, in the European Union Official Journal, a notification of a proposed concentration pursuant to Article 4 of Council Regulation (EC) No 139/2004 prior to reception.... Between 21st January 2008 and 23rd January

On 29th January 2008  the European Commission launched the Covenant of Mayors, the most ambitious initiative to date involving the citizens in the fight against global warming. It comes after an informal consultation with numerous cities across Europe, whose Mayors will join the Commission in launching the Covenant. The Covenant consists of the formal commitment of the adhering cities to go beyond the objectives of the EU in terms of reducing their CO2 emissions through energy efficiency and renewable energy actions. Almost 100 cities throughout Europe, including 15 capital cities, have expressed their early support for the Covenant.

On 29 January six winning projects from four EU member states - Italy, Austria, Hungary and France - were awarded trophies at the Sustainable Energy Europe Awards ceremony taking place under the umbrella of the second European Sustainable Energy Week. The European Commission initiative aims to raise public awareness on the use of renewable energy sources and energy-efficient methods. The winners were awarded for the exceptional work they have already accomplished but, above all, for the commitment they have made to the sustainable future.

Institutional care for disabled people in Europe continues to fall short of acceptable standards in many cases, confirmed a new report released by the European Commission. It recommends a wider use of quality, community-based services, which offer better quality of life to people with disabilities, without necessarily costing more.

The European Commission has published a study by independent consultants on the EU markets for legal services associated with house and land sales (conveyancing services). The study finds that consumers have greater choice and are on average paying less for conveyancing services under deregulated systems, with no loss in quality. The market for conveyancing services is worth about €17 billion per annum; efficiency savings of even a few percent following deregulation would therefore save consumers millions of euros each year. The Commission is calling on Member States to look at the findings and to review and update national laws which limit competition and the free circulation of services throughout the Single Market instead of serving the interests of consumers.

The European Steel Technology Platform (ESTEP) decided, on 27th February 2008, to launch a second phase of the Ultra Low CO2 Steelmaking research programme. ULCOS-II will be the world’s most ambitious Research and Development (R&D) effort to reduce process-related CO2 emissions in steelmaking. The current ULCOS project brings together steelmakers, companies in the steel supply chain, research laboratories and universities to devise the breakthrough technologies that can bring about enhanced reductions in CO2 emissions from steelmaking, with almost €30m of funding already allocated from the EU's research programmes, including the Coal and Steel Research Fund managed by the European Commission. The next phase will require significant levels of investment – the first industrial-scale demonstration is estimated at €300 m.

The European Commission has approved under the EU Merger Regulation the proposed acquisition of the Dutch-based company Packard Bell by Taiwan-based personal computers manufacturer Acer. The Commission concluded that the transaction would not significantly impede effective competition in the European Economic Area (EEA) or any substantial part of it.

On 29th January 2008 Commission Vice-President Margot Wallström and Commissioners Stavros Dimas (Environment) and Andris Piebalgs (Energy), as well as other Commission staff, will be online between 15:00 and 17:00 CET to take part in discussions with European citizens.

On the 25th January 2007, the European Commission came forward with new measures to improve toy safety in Europe. The Commission wants to strengthen EU-rules, especially those relating to the use of chemical substances in toys. The proposal tabled on the 25th January 2007 aims at enhancing the safety of toys replacing and modernizing the 20 years old Toys Directive 88/378/EEC of 3rd May 1988. The revision has a threefold objective: first and foremost there will be new and higher safety requirements to cope with recently identified hazards, secondly it will strengthen manufacturers’ and importers' responsibility for the marketing of toys and finally it enhances the market surveillance obligations of Member States.

On the 25th January 2008, Montenegro will sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the European Commission which will allow it full access to the EU's 7th Research Framework Programme (FP7) which runs from 2007 to 2013. This "associated status" will allow Montenegro to participate in all calls for proposals and compete on an equal footing with the EU Member States for research co-operation and support actions funded by FP7, as of 1 January 2008. This agreement can therefore be seen as an important step in the process of applying to join the EU. It will allow Montenegrin scientists, universities and companies to create links with their counterparts across Europe and build up their scientific expertise, including in scientific fields crucial to implementing the body of EU legislation. With Montenegro, all countries of the Western Balkans except Bosnia and Herzegovina are now associated to the European Union research effort.